


World Turned Black and White

by starandrea



Series: Dreams [1]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Gen, Post-Movie(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 02:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10584948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starandrea/pseuds/starandrea
Summary: Billy is surprised that not everyone on the team exchanged phone numbers, so he fixes that for them.  He doesn't expect them all to immediately start texting each other, but they do.  Trini brings Billy a sandwich, Kim brings them all cookies and tea, and Zack and Jason inadvertently rename the team.





	

"If you don't mind me saying, the problem is that you're trying to be friends with the wrong people." Billy was doing his physics homework and helping Clare choose an appropriate outfit for a trampoline date at the same time. One was consuming a lot more of his attention than the other, but he wasn't going to ignore Kim when she was sitting right next to him.

"Yeah," Kim muttered, punching viciously at her phone's lock screen as she turned it off and then back on again. She put it back to sleep before she could even enter the code and slapped it down so the screen didn't show. "That's the truth."

"You could just block their numbers," Billy said. "Make your social media feeds private. There are places you can't avoid them; your phone isn't one of them."

"Do you like it?" Kim said, flipping it back over and then over again. "It's new. I had to replace it after I broke the old one."

"How did you break it?" Billy asked, halting his calculations to text Clare, _Definitely the first one; the skirt might get caught in things or impede your range of motion._

"Crushed it," Kim said matter-of-factly. "Someone made me angry. We're a lot stronger than we used to be."

"Yeah, it kept me from getting my wrist broken in the hallway," Billy said. "Hey, would you mind telling Clare that she's aesthetically pleasing in leggings even when they aren't coupled with a skirt? It will probably mean more coming from someone who identifies as feminine." Especially if that someone was Kim Hart, but Billy was pretty sure that part went without saying.

"What, is she a friend of yours?" Kim wanted to know. "Did she send pictures? Why isn't she wearing a skirt; skirts are always a good choice. And who tried to break your wrist?"

"Colt," Billy said. "It's fine, he tried to head-butt me and knocked himself out, so problem solved. Here are Clare's pictures." He pushed the phone at her and wrote down the last of the math, doing most of it in his head because it was faster. He should check it, but if the intent of the exercise was the process then he'd already achieved his goal. If the intent was result, well, it would have been more efficient to assign group projects rather than individual assignments.

"Wow," Kim said, taking his phone. "You're right; she doesn't need a skirt."

"That's what I told her," Billy agreed, reaching out to retrieve the phone. _Kim Hart says you don't need a skirt,_ he typed, then handed it back.

"She says ha ha," Kim reported a moment later. "I'm not going on a date with Kim Hart. Can I text her back?"

"Sure," Billy said, turning the page and frowning at the simplified solution offered as a check at the end of the chapter. "She's the kind of person you should be friends with, by the way. You should make your social media feeds private and then add Clare. And me. And Jason, if you can avoid Ty, which might be a problem but you don't have to approve anyone you don't want to. That's the whole point of having a private feed."

"The whole point of having a public feed is that people see you," Kim said. "Why use social media at all if you're just going to lock it down?"

"No no no," Billy said, closing the book carefully and lining it up at a ninety degree angle with the edge of the table. He placed his pencil parallel to the long side, three centimeters away, and he glanced at what she was typing.

 _this is kim,_ the screen said. _billy's [thumbs up icon]. go with leggings._

There was another message underneath that said, _I’ve never seen you use icons non-ironically, Billy._

"The whole point of social media is to be social," Billy countered. "You can do that privately if you add enough people. Starting from a public feed gives you a wider audience but it's uncontrolled. Start privately with the right people and you can grow and control it as much as you want."

"What are you, a social media guru?" Kim asked. She was typing, _it's really kim. billy told me to tell you you're aesthetically pleasing, p sure he means very hot. you got a date?_

"I have a lot of friends," Billy said. "They're not people you know, I guess, but they should be. I think they'd surprise you."

“Uh-huh,” Kim said, leaning closer and holding up his phone.  “Smile.  Or whatever you would do.”

He didn’t realize she was taking a selfie of the two of them until it appeared below the latest message from Clare: _Prove it._

“Don’t you have Biology right now?” Billy blurted out.  She could do whatever she wanted, and he wasn't going to question anyone for not being where they were supposed to be, except that that's exactly what he was doing.  "I mean, not that I'm saying you should be in class, but… shouldn't you be in class?"

"Why, what are they going to do?"  Kim was typing something on his phone, and he couldn't quite see Clare's response to the selfie above her last message bubble.  "I already have detention from now until eternity."

"That's mathematically improbable and biologically impossible," Billy said, closing his book.  "Maybe you should skip a different class."

"It's the only class I have with Amanda," Kim said.  She didn't elaborate, but everyone knew Kim and Amanda had split over a picture Kim shouldn't have shared.  Well, everyone except Jason and Zack, but Billy thought Kim might have told Jason a few days ago.  Clare said Jason was the only member of the football team who spoke to Kim now.

"Trini's in that class," Billy said.  "She could protect you from Amanda.  She's tough that way."

Kim didn't look up from his phone.  "I don't need to be protected from Amanda."

"Well, if you didn't need to be protected you wouldn't be spending Biology class texting my friends from the library," Billy said.  "I'm pretty sure.  Thank you for that, by the way; I appreciate your efforts to reassure Clare.  May I have my phone back now?"

"Don't trust me?" Kim asked, tapping "send" and handing it back.

"I'm going to text Trini to see if she's still sitting at an empty lab bench," Billy said.  "Well, half-empty.  Empty except for her, which isn't really empty.  I think you should take the seat next to her."

"I'm not sitting next to Trini," Kim said.  "She doesn't talk at school, least of all to cheerleaders.  And why do you have her number, anyway?"

"Why don't you have her number?"  Billy held up his phone, which showed a _y_ from Trini in response to his question about the lab bench.  He added unnecessarily, "She says yes."

"I see that," Kim agreed.  "Even if I were going to go sit next to Trini in Biology, which I'm not, I wouldn't show up in the middle of class.  Way more attention for being late than skipping."

"Oh," Billy said, replying to Trini and ignoring the notification from Clare so he could read the rest of a journal abstract that had just appeared in his email.  "That makes sense.  Have you considered not being a cheerleader anymore?  I mean, quitting the team?"

"Sure," Kim said.  "And then I consider how much my parents freaked over my hair, and I think, they’re not going to react well to me changing my extracurriculars."

"Okay," Billy said.  "I'm going to go meet Marge for lunch.  Do you want to join us?"

"I thought you had lunch next period," Kim said.

"I do."  Billy slid his physics book carefully into its place in his backpack, paper folded once inside the front cover, and replaced his pencil in the second pencil pocket from the left.  "But Marge has lunch now, and I told her I would help her with Trigonometry."

"Sounds exciting," Kim said.  "I think I'm gonna go downtown and get something that isn't cafeteria food.  Want me to bring you back a coffee or something?"

"I don't drink coffee," Billy told her.  "Stimulants tend to have a negative effect on me.  Are you sure you want to leave school grounds?  That carries a more severe penalty than missing class alone."

"Yeah, well," Kim said, sliding her bag over her shoulder as she stood up.  "See you in detention."

"See you."  He waved, and she went for the front of the library while he headed out the side door to cut across the courtyard.  Marge would be inside, but the sun was out and vitamin D deficiency was a growing concern.  A few extra seconds here and there added up to minutes over the course of the day.

He checked his texts before he went back in, and the one from Clare was to Kim so he took a screenshot and sent it to Kim's number instead.  There was a new reply from Trini that said, _tell Kim not to be a coward,_ so he sent that to Kim too.  

Then he texted Jason and said, _Kim didn't have Trini's number.  You have everyone's number, right?  I don't know if Zack does, but we should find out._

Which really wasn't that hard, so he texted Zack to ask.  Jason replied before he finished, so he hit send on, _Do you have everybody’s number?_ before he looked at it.

 _I don't have Zack’s number,_ Jason’s text said.

“Why don't you have Zack’s number?” Bully asked aloud.  “That doesn't make any sense.  What if we need to get in touch with each other?”

Zack replied, _no, man, just yours and crazy girl’s,_ and Billy shook his head.

“It feels as though no one values communication,” he said, “which I know can't be true because we had a whole campfire bonding night about it.  I told them about country music.  And now we don't even have each other's phone numbers.”

“Hey, Billy,” Camber said, swinging out from under the portico to stand at his shoulder.  They didn’t touch, and Camber didn’t look at him, but Billy appreciated a person he knew taking up space beside him because it kept other people away.  “Talking to yourself again?”

“I’m talking to Jason,” Billy replied, texting Zack two numbers and Jason one.  “With the understanding that he isn’t within vocal range and is therefore unlikely to receive the content of my message.”

“Jason Scott?” Camber repeated.  “You hanging out with the cool kids now, Billy?”

“Honestly it’s more like they’re hanging out with me,” Billy said, and that was nothing but the truth.  “Though I did ask Jason to hang out with me, and I suppose that negates any social cachet his presence might otherwise afford.”

“Uh-huh,” Camber said.  “Don’t let ‘em break your heart, okay?”

Billy looked up from his phone and blinked at the exterior wall of the school.  “Is that likely?”

“Cool kids are fickle,” Camber told him.  “We’re friends because we’re friends, right?  They’re friends because it looks good to everyone else for them to be seen together.”

Billy didn’t ask what possible value Jason could derive from being seen with him, because the answer was obvious.  Jason wore a legally mandated tracking anklet that no longer enforced his curfew.  But he did wonder, “What does Kimberly Hart gain from being seen with me?”

“Never underestimate a mean girl,” Camber said.  “She’s on the outs with the cheerleading team, right?  Maybe they dared her to do something and this is how she gets back in their good graces.  Who knows.”

“Kim isn’t mean,” Billy said.  “She’s brave and loyal, and the cheerleading team doesn’t deserve her.  If they knew who she really was, they’d be begging her to come back.  All of them.  Even Amanda, whom I think we can agree isn’t a great example of the sport’s overall intelligence.”

Camber laughed aloud and Billy closed his email.  “Can I quote you on that?”

“Of course,” Billy said.  “I have to meet Marge for Trigonometry.  Goodbye.”

“Bye, Billy,” Camber called after him, as he pushed the door open and went inside.  “We got your back!”

Given Camber’s lack of athletic prowess, and the kind of things that had been chasing Billy lately, he sincerely doubted that.  On the other hand, an idle comparison of his own perceived physical capability, as measured against expected high school threats, provided compelling evidence that incomplete observations would yield an unreliable assessment.  Perhaps Camber had also found a buried spaceship and been infused with superhuman abilities.

He should find a way to control for that.  It shouldn’t be difficult; secret identities were notoriously subject to compromise.  Would it be more efficient to postulate the existence of more spaceships and develop a way to scan for them, or to assume the existence of more superhumans and document a process for observing them?

He had one spaceship for reference and five superhumans to observe.  Numbers were on the side of humans.  But Billy liked spaceships better, and this was his experiment.

Spaceships it would be, he decided.

Marge was in the AP room, which was empty during scheduled lunches so students could use it for peer tutoring.  Billy used the time when he wasn't correcting her trigonometry to send a group text to the Power Rangers, who should already have each other's numbers but didn't for some inexplicable reason.  Everyone had given him theirs when he asked, so clearly it wasn't a secret.  And even if it was, a rudimentary internet search should turn them up, for emergency purposes at the very least.

 _Hi,_ Billy wrote.   _You should copy any numbers you don't already have from this message.  We need to be able to get in touch with each other in an emergency._

How did Zordon's Ranger team keep in contact with each other, Billy wondered?  Neither Zordon nor Alpha had shown any inclination to hack the satellite network to tap into their cell phones, which Billy assumed they could do since it was just data, after all.  Alpha ran on it and Zordon was pretty much made of it at this point.

Maybe their systems weren't compatible?  They might not read data the same way Earth systems did.  He could find out how difficult it was to connect modern Earth devices to their ship and go from there.

 _What emergency?_  Trini replied to the group immediately, so Billy speculated she was hiding her phone under a lab bench.   _Rita's gone.  No one dredge up another evil Ranger from the bottom of the ocean and we're good._

It was more than she'd ever sent in a single text before.  Billy hoped she wasn't going to get in trouble for not paying attention in class, but she'd be a better predictor of that than he would.   _Zordon told Jason other dangers would find us,_ Billy wrote back.   _And what if we experience more unpredictable reactions to our superpowers?  I think we're safer if we have a quick and efficient method of communicating information to everyone at once._

 _Other dangers?_ Zack repeated.   _Hey, I don't like the sound of that.  How many evil rangers did old wall face know?_

 _He didn't specify evil Rangers,_ Jason replied. _I'm hoping Rita was an exception.  But if there's a crystal on every planet that has life, there must be other people who know about them.  Rita wanted ours.  Other people might too._

 _You're saying there might be aliens out there whose only reason for coming to earth is to wipe out every living thing on it,_ Zack said, and Billy couldn't let that stand.

 _Wanting to steal an energy source that happens to protect life and wanting to eradicate that life independent of the energy source are two different motivations,_ he typed.   _Also, not all potential interest is necessarily bad.  The power coins--_ Should he capitalize that?  He didn't know.   _\--that Zordon's team used have been dormant for millions of years.  They might get someone's attention now that they're back online._

 _How is that not bad?_ Trini wanted to know.

 _They might be other Rangers,_ Billy replied.   _Maybe they'd want to help us._

 _Maybe we don't want their help,_ Trini said.

 _Zordon barely helps us,_ Zack wrote at the same time.   _Not sure I want to see what people less invested in earth consider helping._

Some of them must be in class, Billy thought.  All of them should be in class.  But ironically, Kim was the only one who wasn't answering.

 _Which is why we should share contact information,_ Jason said.   _We don't know when we're going to need each other or why.  Doesn't mean it won't happen._

 _Where's Kim anyway?_ Trini texted back.   _She too good for this conversation?_

 _She's getting lunch,_ Billy said.   _Also she said she didn't come sit with you because she didn't want to draw attention by coming in late._

 _I'm at lunch,_ Zack said.   _I haven't seen her._

 _She left school grounds,_ Billy said.   _And why are you at lunch?  You have Spanish now._

 _She left school grounds but she didn't want to come to biology late_ , Trini said.

 _Yes,_ Billy replied.

 _k,_ Trini said.

The bell rang, and Marge was hastily scribbling notes to herself on the rest of the homework.  "Thank you so much," she was saying, "I'm sorry I distracted you but that was really helpful, Billy.  I can't tell you how much."

Billy thought she probably could, but it hadn't required much of his attention at all so he didn't need feedback beyond her general appreciation.  "I'm glad I could help," he said.  "You gave me a quiet place to spend my free period, so I think we're even."  And to text without teachers watching, but he didn't say that.  She could see as well as he could.  Probably.  Well enough to know what he was doing, anyway.

He was thinking about staying in the AP room, or maybe going back to the library, when Jason knocked on the open door.  "Hey," he said.  "Want lunch?"

“Hi,” Jason added, waving at them.  Or Marge.  He was probably addressing Marge now.  “Sorry to interrupt.  I’m Jason.”

"Hi," Marge said, fumbling her books.  "I mean... hi.  Um, I'm Marge."

"Nice to meet you," Jason said with a smile.  "I didn't mean to break up your study session.  You want me to go?"

"No!" she exclaimed.  "No, that's fine, I was just--"  She gave Billy a look, but he had no idea what it meant.  "Billy was just helping me with, um, math, so I'm going now.  Thanks, Billy.  Bye Jason!"

"Goodbye Marge," Billy said.

"Bye Marge," Jason added, stepping out of her way as she scrambled for the door.  "Have a nice afternoon.

"Oh, hey," he added, and Billy looked up from his phone where Zack had left a message saying his Spanish teacher let them out early on test days.  "You here for tutoring too?"

Trini breezed past him, sliding a sandwich across the table to Billy.  "Do you eat turkey?" she asked.  "I got you turkey; I'll take it back if you don't want it.  Can anyone use this room or is it just for AP kids?"

"I think it's for anyone who wants to study," Billy said.  "I like turkey but I don't like mayonnaise."

"Hate mayo," Trini agreed.  "It's dry turkey.  I'm gonna study Spanish with Zack; we won't get in your way."

"But you already know Spanish," Billy said.

"Okay, how do you know that?" Zack demanded, swinging around Jason in the doorway with a muttered, "'Sup, man."  

Jason folded his arms, watching them cluster around the table, and Billy just blinked at him and the influx of Rangers.  They hadn't all been in one place since--well, yesterday.  And they weren't now, Kim was missing, but it was still strange.

Zack pulled a chair around the corner of Billy's table and sat down.  "You know our phone numbers," he said.  "You know what classes we have, you know what languages we speak.  Do you stalk us, or what?"

"No," Billy said.  "Stalking you would be impractical; I don't have time to follow you everywhere you go.  I looked up your transcripts in case I need to find you quickly during school hours."

"Breaking into a confidential student database to find out what we know and where we're going to be?" Trini said.  "Sounds like stalking to me."

"I'd have to harrass you for it to be considered stalking," Billy said.  "Right now it's just data theft."

Jason closed the door before he said, "Let's try to avoid confessing actual crimes on school grounds.  I'm sure Billy only knows what classes we have because he carefully observes our schedules.  Right?"

"No, I stole your transcripts," Billy said.  "Also that door has to stay open; it's one of the requirements for us to use this room as a study hall."

"What can I say," Jason told him, pulling up a chair at the other end of the table.  “I don’t know any better.”

"You would if you listened to what I'm saying," Billy replied.

"Are you seriously lecturing us on committing crimes?" Trini asked at the same time.  "You stole a cow, broke into a school, and crashed your truck."

"Plus he trespassed in the mine and crashed the van," Zack added, but Trini shrugged.

"We all did that," she said.  "Doesn't count."

"It totally counts," Zack objected.  "The fact that we're all responsible means he doesn't get to lecture us.  That's how it works."

"Technically he's lecturing us on confessing to crimes," Billy said.  "And it might not be lecturing so much as advising.  It's not bad advice."

"No, it's good advice," Zack agreed.  "But he doesn't get to give it until he follows it."

"I still maintain that I did nothing wrong," Jason told them, and unexpectedly, this was the thing that made Trini laugh.

"Okay," Zack said.  "You get a pass for making Crazy Girl laugh.  But we didn't bring you anything to eat, so.  Sorry about that."

"I'll go get something," Jason said.  "I mean," he added, looking at Billy.  "If that's okay.  If we all eat in here with you?"

"I don't mind," Billy said.  "But you should pretend to be studying, because otherwise we're in violation of the room's purpose, and we might not be able to use it anymore."

"So we go somewhere else," Zack said.

"He means 'we' like the kids who usually use this room," Trini said.  "We don't get to mess this up for them.  Get out your book.  And open the door, Jason."

"Yes, ma'am," Zack drawled, but he pulled out his Spanish book and tossed it on the table between them.  "See?  I'm on topic and everything."

Trini and Zack kept her promise to entertain each other, and they mostly did it in Spanish, so Billy didn’t think they’d get in trouble if a teacher looked in.  Jason propped the door open when he left, presumably on his way to the cafeteria, and Billy wondered what kind of sandwich he’d come back with.  Or if he even ate sandwiches.  Most people did, of course, but most people weren’t former high school quarterbacks.

He didn’t have any more homework before next week, so he pulled out his tablet to start modeling the spaceship search.  He took his sandwich apart absently, removing anything that wasn’t turkey or bread so he could eat it separately in the appropriate ratios.  No one else ever arranged sandwich fillings evenly enough.

His phone messages appeared on his tablet in the upper right corner, so he saw when Kim replied, _If you don’t want bakery cookies, fine.  I’ll eat them all myself._

 _I want bakery cookies,_ Billy typed back immediately.   _We’re in room 227._

 _What, all of you?_ Kim wrote.  Then, she added, _Wait.  We as in all of us, or we as in the AP lunch club?_

Zack’s reply popped up at the same time as Kim’s, and he said, _I think it’s safe to say we all want cookies, no matter where you got them.  I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry all the time._

 _We as in the people who saved the world with you,_ Trini replied.   _We’re studying._

 _Well, Jason went to get lunch,_ Billy added.   _But I think he’s planning to come back here with it._

 _Be there in ten_ , Kim replied.

“She’s bringing us cookies?” Trini asked, breaking the silence.  “Does she even eat cookies?”

Billy frowned at her.  “Why wouldn’t she eat cookies?”

“Are you stereotyping the skinny girl?” Zack added.

“No, I’m questioning the straight-A cheerleader who walks out of school in the middle of the day to get coffee and cookies,” Trini said.  “Is she okay?”

“No,” Jason said from the doorway.  "They filled her spot on the cheerleading team."

"They replaced her?" Billy said.  "I didn't think she was planning to quit."

"She didn't," Jason said, coming back to the table.  "They kicked her off the team last weekend for missing too many practices.  They've been having auditions all week.  They called back some freshman named Ashley to start tomorrow."

"I didn't think they let freshmen join the cheerleading team," Zack said.

"They don't," Trini said.

"It's a slam," Jason added, setting two sandwiches down and reclaiming his seat.  "Like Kim wasn’t important enough to replace with a senior.  Her spot on the team could be filled by anyone."

"Sucks," Trini said.  "That's what happens when you're friends with mean girls."

"She's friends with us now," Billy told her.

Trini had questioned that a week ago.  She'd questioned whether any of them were really friends at all.  Now she just said, "Well, we're not all kindness and light either."

"I am," Zack said.

"Zack is," Jason added.

Billy looked from one of them to the other.  Trini was rolling her eyes, which probably meant that either she didn't agree, or she didn't think they were being sincere.  Since Zack was, in fact, very kind and often light-hearted, Billy assumed it was the latter.

"We're all more supportive of Kimberly than the people she used to be friends with," he said.  "Both mentally and physically.  I'm sorry that the cheerleading team doesn't comprehend the value of actually functioning as a team, but we do.  We're fortunate to have each other."

"Yeah," Zack agreed, nodding at him.  He was smiling, but in a way that seemed nice instead of mocking.  "That's what I meant."

"You're right," Jason said.  He was disassembling both sandwiches, redistributing the turkey from one and spreading out the chicken salad from the other so that they both had a combination of fillings.  "Rita may be gone, but we're still here.  We can help each other if we stick together."

"I don't play football," Trini said.  "I'm just putting that out there right now."

"You play real football," Zack said.  Then he glanced at Jason and added, "No offense, man."

"You play soccer?" Billy repeated.  "I didn't know that."

"Hey, look at that," Trini said.  "Something about us he doesn't know."

"Your student files aren't comprehensive," Billy said.  "And I didn't do more than a cursory internet search to make sure none of you are wanted for anything.  Well, anything other than what we've already discussed, which as Jason pointed out there's no need to revisit."

"I plan to keep being your friend," Trini said, shooting him a look that presumably indicated she was talking to him.  "Because I'm pretty sure getting on your bad side is dangerous."

"The man carries dynamite in his lunchbox," Zack reminded her.  "There is no good side."

"There's a less bad side," Trini said.  "He did drive us away from the mine."

"After he blew it up," Zack countered.

"Technically he drove us into a train," Jason said.

"I would never deliberately endanger any of you," Billy protested.

"We believe you," Jason said easily, putting his second sandwich back together and pressing the bread down on top.  "That's why we're friends."

"Kind of a low bar," Trini said.

"Not as low as you'd think," Zack said.

"I will support all of you to the best of my abilities," Billy said.

"Hey," Jason said.  "Billy.  You don't have anything to prove, okay?  You did right by us out there.  We're all gonna return the favor."

"Yeah, thanks man," Zack said.  "And woman," he added, glancing at Trini.

"Whatever," she said.

Billy didn't know why this seemed to satisfy Zack, but the two of them returned to their halting Spanish conversation--well, halting on Zack's part and brief on Trini's--while Jason put more of his sandwich in his mouth than a human could reasonably be expected to chew and said nothing.  

Since his participation was no longer expected, Billy turned back to his tablet.  He did wonder what Jason thought he had done right, and how he planned to return the favor.  The conversation seemed to be over, so it probably wasn't appropriate to ask.

Kimberly didn't text them when she arrived back at school.  The first they knew of her return was when she sauntered into the AP classroom, backpack over both shoulders and a bland expression on her face.  She didn't look surprised to see them sitting quietly around a table at the front of the room, but then, he'd told her where they were.

She took the seat beside him and let her backpack slide to the ground.  Without a word, she started pulling individually wrapped cookies out of the top and pushing them around the table.  One cookie to each of them.  Jason was the first to say, "Thanks," which made Billy realize he should say it too.

"Although I wouldn't have encouraged you to leave school grounds without permission," he said, "I appreciate the bounty you've brought back."

"Yeah, you should," Kim replied, setting a stack of wax paper cups on the table.  "I got caffeine-free tea just for you."  She pulled out a thermos and started to unscrew the top.

"Is there anything academic in your backpack at all?" Trini wanted to know.

"Why would I leave school grounds if I was just going to take school with me?" Kim countered.

"Cheers," Zack said, holding up his cookie.  "These are great."

"Sure."  Kim poured half a cup full of tea and set it in front of Billy.  "Do you drink herbal tea?  Give it to Jason if you don't; I'm pretty sure he'll drink anything."

"Hey," Jason objected.  Then  he paused and added, "That's true."

"See?"  Kim poured another half a cup and passed it to Zack.  The third one went to Trini, who lifted it in her direction the way Zack had lifted his cookie, and Kim nodded back at her.  Then she looked at Billy expectantly.

"Yes?" he guessed.

"Okay then," she said, and poured another cup.  She had to lean around him to pass it to Jason, but he reached out to meet her halfway.

"Did you actually get this in a thermos?" Jason asked.  "Or did you have to order five cups of tea and then pour it into the thermos to sneak it back into school?"

"Don't be silly," Kim said.  "I can't balance five cups of tea and not look like I'm a superhero.  I ordered four cups; that's why everyone gets half."

“There’s a certain logic to that,” Trini said.

“You leapt across a canyon,” Zack said.  “Your thoughts on logic mean nothing to me.”

“We all leapt across a canyon,” Kim said.

“It was more of a narrow chasm,” Billy offered.

“Yeah, but someone had to do it first,” Zack reminded them.  “Who looks at a jump like that and thinks to themselves: I bet I could make that.  Why don’t I try it and find out?”

“Pretty much all of us,” Kim replied, breaking off a piece of her cookie and dunking it in her tea.

“I didn’t,” Billy said.

“I will no longer accept rational arguments from any of you,” Zack said.  “Except for Billy.”

“You’re pretty self-righteous for someone who snuck into a zord without being able to morph and took it on an uncontrolled joyride through the hills,” Jason said.

“Oh, yeah,” Zack said with a grin.  “That was fun.”

“Okay,” Kim said.  “Here’s what I know; you can take it or leave it.  There’s always an us, and there’s always a them.  So.”

She lifted her cup and added, “Here’s to us.”

Trini picked up her paper cup without hesitation and tapped it gently against Kim’s.  Billy grabbed his and did the same, and from the ends of the table, Zack and Jason leaned in to join them.  “Here’s to us,” they chorused.

“Power Rangers,” Trini added, shaking her head.  “Who knew?”

“Mighty,” Zack remarked, settling back into his seat.

“Morphing,” Jason added.

“Power Rangers,” Kim repeated firmly.

Billy considered the sentence they’d unintentionally created.  “It has a certain ring to it,” he decided.

“Sure,” Trini said.

“No,” Kim said.  “No, it doesn’t.”

“It sort of does,” Zack told her.

“You’re outvoted,” Jason added.

“Oh, is that how it works?”  Kim raised her eyebrows at them.  “We use the democratic process on this team?”

“Historically,” Billy said.  “It seems we do.”

“On the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers we do,” Jason said.

“That’s a ridiculous name,” Kim told him.

“Worse than Power Rangers?” Trini countered.

“We could be the Deadly Dinosaur Power Rangers,” Zack said.

“Or the Non-Caffeinated Cookie Power Rangers,” Jason said.

“Okay, fine,” Kim said.  “Mighty Morphin is fine; let’s just stop there.”

“Why do we have to be the Anything Alliterative Power Rangers?” Trini asked.  “What’s wrong with just Power Rangers?”

“Nothing that couldn’t be improved by making it longer and harder to remember,” Zack said.

“Yeah,” Jason said.  “You’re not wrong.”

Billy thought their secret identities were unlikely to hinge on the plausibility or memorableness of their team name.  But he did like alliteration, and he liked things that were mighty.  They were impressive, powerful, and strong.

He thought it was an apt description of the team’s component members.


End file.
